LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS — Another study? Some of you may be asking once again how many studies do we need? The answer: As many as possible. What seems obvious to us, may not be the case for those that make decisions on our behalf — legislators, administrators and the judicial branch. A growing body of academic works — all having the same findings — is one of the best tools to get lasting and permanent equality.

While our distractions and opponents many use anecdotes and hearsay to make their cases in the short-term, in the long-term however, a large pile of solid scientific evidence will crush the rhetoric and emotional pleas from those who wish to legislate us out of existence. Until we are completely equal, there is no such thing as “too many studies.”

This latest one was done by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) and The Fenway Institute. Over 450 Massachusetts trans residents were evaluated about the needs of public accommodations and health during the past year.

A short summary of their findings:

Overall, 65% of respondents reported discrimination in one or more public accommodation settings in the past 12 months.

The five most prevalent public accommodations discrimination settings were: transportation, retail, dining, public gathering location, and health care.

Those who reported public accommodations discrimination in the past 12 months had an 84% increased risk of adverse physical symptoms in the past 30 days and 99% increased risk of emotional symptoms.

One in five respondents postponed or did not try to get health care in the past year because of prior experiences of mistreatment in health care settings.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they had not seen a doctor in the past year, while 29% reported having to teach their health care provider about transgender health issues.

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This latest study’s findings are in the ballpark with earlier studies.

3 replies

i thinck one of the most terrible discriminations we suffer is in education, so few of us were to pass through university. Personally in Paris, forty years ago i was banned from a cinema school. When you transitioned at your adolescence its difficult to keep your studies in the same time. So there is so few of us in university. Non-trans academics will always been tempted to put their fantasms , prejudices or idéology in their surveys…So “as long the hunters tell the story, the lion will die the ends. personally i am fed up with queer blabla

The first thing to tackle is the act of blemishing our image by people voicing their disapproval of trans-folk in the media. Way too often show writers and comedians use us as a cheap way to get a laugh. Transgender friends will tell me to “lighten up on that topic”. That, “publicity, all be it negative, will keep us and our issues in the lime light”. That, “It’s impossible to regulate out of the media”. I disagree. Hopefully a group of transgender lawyers can get together and put up some lawsuits against those who seek to punish those who want to talk about us publicaly in a disparaging way.

Personally, I don’t give a damn about equality. But I do demand equity and justice.

tg BrendaJ, I think the first thing to tackle is educating those that should be our allies, yes the media, but the larger LGBQ community as well, perhaps especially! We spend much to much time under the L&G bus.